Coolness

All but the first one have been rehomed or have plans for new homes, but if anyone still plays and they want him, let me know.

Cool shows I have watched in the past 2-3 weeks: 1Survivor, final 7: I am still in mourning for Jenn, and now I am in extra mourning for Tyler, with my only comfort being that at least Ponderosa just keeps getting more awesome. I have avoided Shirin's video, but I'm having boatloads of fun with the others. Just think, I could be totally over the show if it weren't for Carolyn stubbornly hanging on. And I'm pretty sure Tyler's charisma eclipsed her in the past few weeks, so while she's by far the best person remaining and still reminds me of a very savvy queen with political power, it's not the same unfettered enthusiasm I had before.

Plus I genuinely do not see why she chose to align with Mike this late in the game. She's got to know he'll have more friends on the jury than Tyler, and those two are the only ones who can compete with her in both likability and strategy. I guess...she still thinks she can beat him in challenges, vote him out, and then cakewalk to the end? It seems risky, but I guess if she could pull it off it would be neat.

As for the episode itself, we got to watch Rodney throw a temper tantrum about not getting to do anything special for his birthday (well dude, if you'd had the foresight to be in Ponderosa on your birthday, maybe you too could have had a special fishing trip. Or you could have gone on reward if your dumb ass hadn't failed to follow instructions and caused you to fall behind), while some other people do a boring ambassador trip, the highlight of which was Sierra proudly telling people that she's a real-life cowgirl (except better: only the fun part with horses, and not the boring part with cows) and giving a TH with the pasture in the background. Pity there were no shots of her petting said horses.

THAT ENTIRE PARAGRAPH WAS ONE SENTENCE.

The most exciting part was learning that fans (including yours truly!) get to pick the next cast by voting for 20 (out of 32 options) returning single-time players. It's not as fun as it could be because you have to choose 10, no more no less, from both the men and the women, and they do not have 20 good options. I'm worried that some of the boring people I had to pick will edge out the cool people who weren't picked by people who preferred terrible options. Nevertheless, here's what I chose, along with reasons so you know why you should align with my votes:

Lukewarm Feelings8. Mikayla Wingle (I don't remember her, but a quick Google search says she's best remembered for being hit on by Brandon Hantz, and anyone who's survived that definitely deserves a second chance)9. Monica Padilla (she's pretty and I feel like I vaguely recall her as non-objectionable)10. Ciera Eastin (ugh. But I mean, at least I know who she is. And she is not in the worst half of Survivor players)

Did Not Select-Abi-Maria Gomes (OH MY GOD NO, GOD, NO, WHY! NO. NOOOOOOOOO!)-Shirin (WHO WOULD ALLOW THIS. Apparently a lot of people, which worries me.)-Kass McQuillen (and none for Kaos Kass, bye)-Natalie Tenerelli (unknown)-Teresa Cooper (unknown)-Stephanie Valencia (unknown and I'm too lazy to find out. But you get to vote more than once, so I might research later and change some votes)

[edit: in retrospect, I really should have voted for Kass over Ciera, so luckily that did not make a difference. Otherwise, my choices were solid. 20% of America's were not. But based on what I have heard since this season aired, Teresa or "T-Bird" would have been infinitely better than Abi-Maria or Shirin. Honestly, any of the unknowns would have been; there are not many women who have been worse.]

MENMain question: WHY IS REED KELLY NOT ON THIS LIST. WHYYYYYYYYYY! His giant fandom has spent the past six months on Twitter talking about how we want him back on the show again, with him agreeing all the way. Josh is clearly committed to Broadway for the immediate future so it's not even like it's been avoided because it's too hard to choose between them. WHY ISN'T REED ON THIS LIST. The only acceptable answer is him showing up to Twitter with a big project announcement he's been keeping under wraps.

Anyway.

1. Stephen Fishbach (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, he's done weird things with his hair and glasses since leaving the show, but he won my heart/has made his season legendary in my memory for a REASON. He was Survivor King Champion Of My Heart until Reed took it away. Five years later.).2. Jeremy Collins (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)3. Woo Hwang (WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)4. Joe Anglim (there is just a vast, bland sea of pale skin and gray hair in these options; at least he's pretty and tan. And quite a nice person, too.)5. Spencer Bledsoe (WHAT UP, KID! COME BACK AND BE GREAT.)6. Keith (see Kelly Wentworth/"last season" rule. ...spitting and all. Compared to the other choices, anyway)7. Brad Culpepper (whatever! Brad was also part of an awesome Blood v. Water season, and he was partly responsible for it)

Lukewarm Feelings8. Mike Holloway (I mean, there are actively awful people. At least he's trying to be a good person. He even supposedly has celibacy points.)9. Terry Deitz (who? except I remember some dudes named Terry. I hope he wasn't one of the terrible ones)10. Jeff Varner (who? a.k.a. a random selection based on everyone else being unacceptable)

Did Not Select-Shane Powers (ugh)-Troyzan (UGH)-Vytas (UGH, THE SMARM)-Max Dawson (we JUST got lucky enough to escape without hearing his weird drivel; why would you threaten us again)

-Jim Rice (I'm looking at his face and I remember it, but I can't remember if it's because he's likable or a smug annoyance. I fear it's the latter.) [update: I chose wisely. "works as a medical marijuana dispenser while playing poker on the side." Yeah, I remember him as full of himself.]

-Andrew Savage (who? but I might choose him later)

[edit: in retrospect, Savage was infinitely a better choice than Holloway, and several others too; thank god America is smarter than me! Also, based on when he DID come back, Troyzan ended up being more fun to watch than Keith a second time. Not sure I could have predicted that, though.]